Cyrus's Story: How It Began
by Fantasy Fish
Summary: I was asked to record my back story, I wasn't happy about it, but I did. You'll find out how I got to Narnia and what-interesting-events happened when and before I came to Narnia.
1. My Escape Plan Fails

Dear reader,

My name is Cyrus. So, apparently I'm supposed to tell you my back story…like how I got to Narnia and whatnot….anyway…I guess I'll start… So uh… I was born on March 20, 1928…

Fish: How about you just start at the part where things actually make sense?

Right…

Okay, so to give you a quick idea of what my life was like, I'll start on that one sunny June Afternoon that I didn't block out of my mind. (Like I did with most of my memories…)

My older sister, Mira lay in the sun napping. I was in the shadows getting ready to ambush her. "Rawr!" I jumped out and landed on Mira. "Hey!" Mira shouted in surprise while I had her pinned to the ground. "I knew I could do it! I'm—" Mira flipped over and had me pinned in her spot. I giggled and we had a cub sized wrestling match. I playfully bit her ear and she batted at my tail. Mira chased me over the rocks and into a small pond, soaking us both. We shook off and then she tackled me again and we both rolled to the base of a tree. "Girls!" Our mother called, standing where the people usually fed us. Yes, we lived in a zoo. We were the white tigers that everyone always flocked to America to see us perform in our "show". Really, all it was us jumping around and striking poses. It was really cheesy in my opinion. Anyway, My mother smiled at us as we stood up. Her coat was pure white, like snow. She had stripes black as the night and ice blue eyes, very similar to me. My father was a more off-white and had dark brown eyes and more gray-ish stripes. He was close by and herded us toward food. My sister and I quickly ate and waited eagerly for our father to tell us a story. Our favorite stories were those about Narnia, how Aslan had created it with just a song, and how the long-time winter that supposedly was still happening. My favorite part of the story was the prophecy:

_Wrong will be right when Aslan's in sight,_

_At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,_

_When he bears his teeth, winter meets it's death,_

_When he shakes his mane it shall be spring again,_

_When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone,_

_Sits at Cair Paravel on the throne,_

_The evil time will be over and done._

The stories always seemed so real to me. I'd never wanted anything more than to live in Narnia with my sister. It was my dream. Yes, It must have seemed childish, but really, I was a dreamer. No dream was too big for me!

Our father finished telling us our favorite story as we made ourselves comfortable. Mira and I were curled up in a little hole that we'd made and filled with grass and soft stuff. "Goodnight!" Mira and I said in unison.

"Goodnight." Our father chuckled.

"Hey, Cy?" Mira whispered.

"Yea?" I said.

"I love you…I always will." She said, snuggling close.

"Same, sissy…" I replied.

We both fell asleep and dreamed of Narnia.

_Six Years Later…_

"Cyrus…Cyrus, wake up." A voice said. I rolled over and moaned. "What..?" I asked annoyed. Mira growled and scratched me.

"Ow!"

"Get up."

Mira began to walk off. I yawned and stretched. I walked to the feeding place were Mira sat, staring at me with an un-amused expression and chewing a hunk of meat.

"You sleep more than a house cat." Mira said. "Cy—Are you even listening?!"

"What? Sorry. I was just remembering the stories father used to tell us."

"Don't talk about those!"

I cocked my head. "Why?"

Mira didn't answer for a long time. "It's all nonsense. That's why." She mumbled, then began to eat.

"It's not nonsense." I argued. I felt a rumble in my stomach. "I know why…" I thought aloud.

"Why what?" Mira said bitterly.

"Why you don't believe."

Mira shifted uncomfortably and said nothing.

"When Mother and Father where taken away—"

"I don't want to talk anymore." Mira said, getting up and going to the far side of our exhibit. Right about now was the time I'd begun to question if I really belonged here. Sure, I got three meals a day, and life was rather easy…despite living with Mira… But I felt out of place and dissatisfied with life. I wanted adventure! Danger! Excitement! Was there really a place out there for me?

Mira didn't talk to me for the rest of the night until the show. Tonight's show was special because it was the first night of our Christmas show. We danced around in ridiculous costumes telling the story of…something…

"How much longer?" I quietly asked my sister before jumping up and posing.

"Another hour…" She growled in response.

It was just after that when things began to go downhill. In our final five minutes we had to do an extra complicated move that I didn't know was possible for a tiger to do. I jumped up into the air and spun while Mira somersaulted and posed. I landed and did the same. Then, when we both jumped into the air, Mira jumped the wrong way and crashed into each other. We landed with a THUD! The crowd laughed. "Cyrus!" Mira scolded. "You where supposed to jump the other way!"

"Me? You're the one who jumped the wrong direction!" I protested.

Mira growled threateningly. Two workers from the zoo took us back to our exhibit. The walk back was silent, despite the occasional greeting from a nearby exhibit.

Mira and I didn't talk to each other for the rest of the night. The one and only thing we had in common that night was we were both feeling incredibly humiliated. Nights like this were the times that I wished my parents were still there at the zoo with us. I wondered where on earth they had been taken to. Why did they have to be taken from me? When they were taken away, I had lost two things. Not just my parents, but also Mira's love for me, her little sis. I now had no friends aside from the occasional giraffe or zebra that would pass by the den.

When we got back to the den, I climbed the tree that was in our exhibit and Mira lay at the base, just below my branch. "Mira," I said softly. "Why is it so hard to believe?"

"I'm getting real tired of this whole Narnia thing." Mira growled.

"A tiger can dream, can't she?"

"Would you just stop?!" Mira jumped up and tackled me, causing us both to fall to the ground. She pinned me down. "I have had quite enough of you! Do me a favor and get out of my life! And take your dreams with you! Do something in the real world for once! Dreaming helps nothing. Also, while I'm at it. I hate to break it to you, but Narnia isn't real! Never was, and never will be!"

I was slightly dazed. But I collected my wits, got up, and roared, "It's as real as you and me! I'll prove it!"

I ran to the gate that had been left open by a very dim-witted human. I burst through the gate and headed as fast as I could to the zoo exit, tears streaming down my face.

"Hey!" A voice behind me called. "There's a tiger out!"

Several workers chased me toward the exit. One particularly large one jumped in front of me. I dodged him and turned around, ducking under a low hanging banner. I sprang over the small fence around the penguin exhibit and dove into the ice cold water. "In there!" A worker hollered. To my surprise, they dove right in after me. I swam to the bank and shook myself before talking off toward a crowd. Many zoo-goers were now watching the scene. I ran past a young child with strawberry ice cream. "Kitty!" She shouted, throwing her arms in the air and dropping her soft serve, staining my coat pink with ice cream. I skidded to a stop…but not fast enough. I crashed right into a mud puddle. I shook off again and got a nearby woman muddy and very unhappy. Some people ran for the exit, some people called the police, one even called a news crew. I began to get overwhelmed. To comfort myself, I thought of fighting a war, rather than this being a chase. I thought of the clanging of swords and the battle cries of centaurs. Then, I saw the exit! I used my final burst of energy to get there. But just as I reached the gate, I felt something pierce my shoulder. Then I grew very tired, and everything went black. I hate tranquilizer darts…


	2. I Start the Greatest Adventure: My Life

I woke aching all over, especially my legs. I stood up a bit too quickly and everything spun. I sat back down quickly. I looked up and noticed Mira glaring at me. Shocker…

I walked to our small pond and noticed my horribly stained coat. I washed myself off in the pond. I didn't dare lick my coat off…who knew what else was on there…I saw that the zoo keepers had already been in. A fresh hunk of meat was sitting there waiting to be eaten. I limped over next to Mira. She didn't pay any attention to me. I ate then sat at the glass, looking out at the zoo. People happily stared back at me like last night had never happened. I guess I didn't mind that much. I didn't really _want_ to remember what happened last night. I looked back and noticed Mira staring. I wasn't sure what I did…aside from cause a huge scene last night…but that wasn't it. She looked away as soon as I met her eyes. "Mira…what happened to you?" I asked, turning my back on the happy little children who were looking in at me. "What happened to _us_? We were best friends. I want that back."

Mira shifted uncomfortably. "Well it's not happening. Things change, Cyrus. You can't stop that. Maybe it wouldn't have changed if mom and dad weren't taken."

"You say that like it's my fault!" I growled.

"Well it is!" Mira retorted before running off and climbing the tree, disappearing between the branches. I didn't really understand back then why Mira blamed me. But now, I do. She didn't really have anybody else to blame, since it was just us two. I'd told her many times it was the zoo keeper's faults. They were the ones who moved them to a different zoo. But Mira still, for whatever reason, blamed me. Since then, we haven't been the best of friends.

Later on, I was still aching, so I napped some more. I had a lot of strange dreams, including ones about the day our parents had been taken.

Mira and I were playing a game of tag when the zoo keepers unexpectedly came in with some crates that said: LIVE ANIMALS; HANDLE WITH CARE. After a chase, they used tranquilizer darts on them and put them in the crates with some effort. Mira and I tried to follow them, but the zoo keepers quickly closed the door behind them so we couldn't get out. We roared with all our little hearts, but it did no good. We scratched at the door and chased the zoo keepers along the glass, but we couldn't do anything. Mira didn't talk or eat for the next couple of weeks. The show had been delayed, due to her physical state. She began getting weak. It took me everything to convince her to talk to me again. But things were never the same. She was bitter and angry all the time. I soon realized, I would never have the Mira I knew and loved back. She was gone. Then my dream morphed into something else. I was standing in a snowy field with someone—or something. I felt a presence. A strong, fierce presence. I looked around and saw nothing but then, a lion appeared in front of me. I somehow knew him, but had no clue who he was…if that makes any sense…

We stood in silence for a long time. I was wracking my brain, trying to figure out who this lion was. He seemed so familiar. Then, a line from the Narnian prophecy echoed in my mind. "_At the sound of his roar, sorrows are no more…_" The lion roared and as he did so, I realized who he was.

I woke with a start "Aslan!" I said as I jumped to my feet. Mira looked up. "What?"

"Aslan! It was Aslan! I saw him! He was there! I—"

"Was dreaming." Mira finished.

How could I have been dreaming? It felt so real.

I didn't say anything after that for a while.

"Mira…" I said after a long time of silence. "What happened to 'I'll always love you'?"

"Things change, Cyrus." Mira muttered.

"But did _that_ have to change?" I asked.

Mira didn't answer.

"And what about your happy go lucky personality?"

She still didn't say anything.

"What about your belief in Narnia? Did that have to change too?"

Mira growled and turned to me. "Have I not told you I've heard enough?!" She jumped up and pinned me to the ground.

"Mira? What…"

"Shut...up." She growled. "Narnia. Doesn't. Exist! Why won't you understand that?!"

I took a shaky breath. I worked up my courage and made a decision. "I'll show you! I'm leaving! And someday, when I'm a queen of Narnia, I'll look back and say I've proven you wrong!" I threw Mira off me and ran off to the opposite side of the den. I somehow managed to steal the key from the passing security guard. I escaped the den and ran off silently toward the zoo exit. I took a final look back at the zoo I knew I wouldn't see again, even if I didn't find Narnia. I turned my gaze forward to the dark path ahead. It took all I had to take another step. I'd come this far, now I was going to start possibly the greatest adventure of my life.


End file.
